Doorlatch



Jul-y 3l, 41934.

J. J. EGAN 1,968,285

DooRLATcH v A Filed Aug. 20. 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 43 INVENTOR.

JOHN J; EGAN BY M@ ATTORNEY.4

DOORLATCH Filed Aug. 20, 1932 2 Sheets-.Sheet 2 'FIG- 3. .5

M11 mv INVENTOR.

A TTORNE Y.

Patented July 31, 1934 UNITED STATES PTENi' @FFE 7 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in doorv latches and moreparticularly to combined door latches and locks having operating handleson both sides of the door. The principal object of the invention is toincorporate within the latch means by which the door may be locked fromone side thereof by disengaging the operating handle on the oppositeside.

Another object is to prevent reengagement of the disengaged handleexcept by operation of the proper control.

Another object is to allow free rotation of the disengaged handlewithout electing the latch. Another object is to arrange the latch unitso as to permit the complete removal of the disengaged handle andescutcheon plate without leaving a sufficient opening to permit theentry of the necessary tools to force the latch.

Another object is to prevent the opening or closing of the door fromeither side when the outer handle is disengaged.

Another object is to safeguard against persons being locked out exceptby the intentional locking of the door bolt by the proper key.

VAnother object is to lock the door bolt against operation when thelatch is engaged.

A further object is to provide a latch of strong and durableconstruction. v

Other objects and advantages appear as the description progresses.

1n this specilication and the accompanying drawings, the invention isdisclosed in its preferred form. It is, however, to be understood thatit is not limited to this form because it may be embodied in other formswithout departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in theclaims following the description.

In the accompanying two sheets of drawings:

Fig. 1 is a horizontal section taken at the level of the operatinghandles of a latch constructed in accordance with this invention.

Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section of the same taken along the line-lL-lI in Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section of the same taken along theline lll- III in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail in vertical section of' a portion of Fig.2 showing the outer handle disengaged.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan view from above of the same.

Fig. 6 is a vertical section taken along the line VI-VI showing themeans by which opening or closing of the door is prevented when the 55outer handle is disengaged.

In detail. the construction illustrated in the drawings, referring moreparticularly to Figs. l, 2 and 3, comprises the conventional door jamb1, having the vertical stop 2 attached thereto against which the stile 3abuts to bring the door 6 latch into alignment with the strike plate 4which is gained into the jamb 1.

The latch provided by the present invention is contained within thecasing 5, the open front of which is closed by the cover plate 6 screwed05 thereto. The door stile 3 has the horizontal recess 7 mortisedthereinto at the desired height for the latch to receive the casing 5,which is fixed within vthe stile in the usual manner by screws passingthrough the side lugs 8.

` The construction of the door with its framing and the cooperation ofthe latch and strike plate is conventional and may be varied to meetarchitectural conditions.

The registering holes 9 and 10 are bored i5 through the sides of thestile and intersect the central recess '7. The conveniently shaped outerhandle 11 has its neck iixed upon the spindle 12 which is mounted in theornamental escutcheon plate 13 and extends through the hole 9 into thecasing 5. The boss 14 abuts the escutcheon plate 13 to retain thespindle 12 in fixed longitudinal position.

The inner handle 15 is xed on the spindle 16 which extends through thehole 10 into the casing 5. The spindle 16 is slidably mounted in theescutcheon 17 and is provided with the boss 18 arranged to abut theescutcheon to limit the outward movement of the handle and spindle. Foriiner adjustment, the handles 11 and 15 can be threaded on the spindlesl2 and 16 and retained in adjusted position by setscrews such as 19 and20 in accordance with conventional practice.

The latch 21 protrudes from the front of the casing 5 and has theinclined face 22 which has the cam action against the end of the strikeplate 4 when the door is closed. The latch is loosely connected to thelatch bar 23 by the stem 24 threaded in the head of the latch and freelyengaging through the lug 25 offset from the end of the latch bar. Thespring 26 encircles the stem. 24 and expands between the latch head andthe lug 25, thus permitting resilient retraction of the latch when thedoor is closed. The latch bar 23 is slidably mounted within the casing 5by the guide 27 engaging over a longitudinal groove in the latch bar andscrewed to the side of the casing.

The small pinion 28 is fixed on the end of the u. spindle 16 and isoperatively enmeshed in the rack teeth 29 provided in the latch bar 23.The pinion 30 is of similar size and pitch and is splined on the end ofthe opposite spindle 12 and is also enmeshed with the rack teeth 29alongside the pinion 28.

These pinions are both retained against vertical movement away from theteeth 29 by the rack 31 engaging the top of the pinions. The guide 32slidably mounts the rack 3l against the side of the casing by engagingover a longitudinal groove in the side of the casing. The heavy tensionspring 33 expands between the end of the rack and the casing and urgesthe rack toward the rear of the casing. This pressure is transmittedthrough the pinions 28, 30 and resiliently advances the latch bar toproject the latch 21 to its fullest exent.

The handle 15 may be manually pushed inward to thrust the pinion 28against the slidably mounted pinion 30 to move it laterally out ofengagement with the racks 29 and 31. The pinion 28 has the axial hole 34provided therein to receive the end of the spindle 12 when the pinion isthrust laterally as shown in Fig. 4. The spring 35 encircles the spindle12 and expands between the casing cover 6 and the side of the pinion 30to normally urge the pinion into operative engagement with the racks 29,31.

The detent 36, slidably mounted within the escutcheon 17, has a centralopening therethrough to pass the spindle 16 and is operated by theexternal integral button 37. The pyramid spring 38 expanding underneaththe button 37 urges the detent upward against the spindle 16. Thespindle has a groove machined therein at 39 arranged to be engaged bythe resiliently mounted detent when the handle 15 is pushed inward toretain the handle in adjusted position.

The stop 40 is fixed to the head of the latch 21 and is offset therefromand is arranged to enter the space between the pinion 28 and the boss 18when the latch is retracted in opening and closing the door. When thehandle l5 is pushed inward as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the stop 40 abutsagainst the boss 18 to prevent the retraction of the latch for a purposeto be later disclosed.

The above described construction is sufficient to serve as a completelatch unit for interior doors such as those of bedrooms, bathrooms, andthe like. For entrance doors, however, additional key-operated means arerequired so that the door may be locked from either side. A suitablelocking means for this purpose is shown in detail in Figs. 2 and 3.

The bolt 4l, engageable with a recess in the strike plate 4, is slidablymounted within the casing 5 by the guide 27 which has a flange engagingover a longitudinal groove in the bolt. The cylinder 42 has theconventional locking means therein, which may be operated by insertingthe requisite key at 43 on the outside of the door. The toothed segment44 is mounted on the cylinder 42 and is enmeshed with the rack teeth 45provided on the underside of the bolt 41 to operate the bolt when thecylinder is rotated by the proper key.

The detent pawl 46 is pivoted on the guide 27 at 47 and is engageablewith either of the slots 48 or 49 in the bolt 4l depending upon whetherthe bolt is retracted or advanced. The latch bar has the trips 50 and 51depending therefrom and adapted to cooperate with the upper end of thepawl 46. When the' latch bar 23 is advanced as shown in Fig. 3, the trip50 engages the pawl 46 to direct it into one of the slots 413-49, thusrendering forced operation of the bolt virtually impossible. Retractionof the latch bar engages the trip 51 against the pawl, displacing itfrom the slots 48, 49 and permitting the operation of the bolt by thekey.

The invention operates substantially as follows: The latch may beretracted by manually operating either of the handles 11 or l5 to rotatethe pinion 28 or 30. This moves the latch bar 23 toward the rear of thecasing, thus pulling the stem 24 inward to retract the latch 21 fromengagement with the strike plate. When the latch is thus retracted thedoorcan be swung open in the usual manner.

The rotation of the pinions 28, 30 also moves the upper rack 31 forward,against the tension of the spring 33. The release of the operatinghandles 11, 15 permits the expansion on the compressed spring 33 toforce the rack 31 rearward and rotate the pinions 28, 30. This advancesthe latch bar 23 and restores the latch 21 to its initial position.

When the door is closed, the inclined face 22 of the latch is broughtinto contact with the curved end of the strike plate 4. As the closingof the door progresses, the latch rides up onto the strike platedepressing itself into the casing 5 without operating the latch bar 23.Upon the completion of the door closing, the expansion of the compressedspring 26 snaps the latch into the hole provided therefor in the strikeplate.

To lock the door from the inside, the inner handle 15 is manually pushedinward to thrust the pinion 28 against the slidably mounted pinion 30 tomove it laterally out of engagement with the racks 29, 31 against thetension of the spring 35. With the pinion 30 thus disengaged, the outerhandle is rendered completely inoperative with respect to the latch 21and can be freely rotated without affecting the latch bar. When theouter handle 11 is disengaged as described, the escutcheon plate 13 andthe spindle 12 can be removed, Without uncovering the casing 5suliciently to admit the necessary tools to force open the latch.

The inner handle 15 is retained in its adjusted position by theresiliently mounted detent locking into the slot 39 in the spindle 16.This rigidly fixes the pinion 28 in the lateral position shown in Figs.4 and 5, thus insuring pinion 30 remaining out of engagement with thelatch bar 23.

The thrusting of the handle 15 inward also brings the boss 18 intolongitudinal alignment with the end of the stop 40 which is attached tothe latch 21. When the boss is in this position, it blocks any rearwardmovement of the latch 21, thus effectively preventing retraction of thelatch 21 and the opening and closing of the door. This is a desirablesafety feature to insure against persons becoming locked out aftersetting the inner handle to disengage the outer handle 11. The stop 40also provides additional security against the latch being forced open byintruders.

The inner handle 15 is restored to its initial position by manuallydepressing the button 37 to disengage the detent 36 from the slot 39 inthe spindle 16. The pinion 30 is urged back into engagement with theracks 29, 31 by the expansion of the spring 35, thus restoring thespindle 16 and the handle 15 to the position shown in Fig. 2. The outerhandle 11 may then be operated to draw the latch as above described.

The door may also be locked from the outside by inserting the proper keyinto the lock at 43. The handle 11 is then manually rotated to retractthe latch bar 23, causing the trip 51 to displace the pawl 46 from theslot 48. The key at 43 is then operated to rotate the cylinder 42 andthe segment 40 to advance the bolt 41 into engagement with theregistering opening provided therefor in thc strike plate 4. The handlel1 is subsequently released. permitting the spring 33 to advance thelatch bar 23 to its former position. The trip 50 then inipingcs on thepawl 46 to move it into engagement with the slot 49. This provides astrong. eiectivc means for locking thebolt against tampering therewith.

The installation of the present unit in the door stile will be obviousupon examination of the drawings. The mechanism, without the handles 1l,l5 and their respective spindles and operating pinions are previouslyassembled in the casing 5 and the whole is fixed in the horizontalrecess 7 in the usual manner. The spindle of the handle 11 issubsequently inserted through the hole 9 and iixed in place therein byscrewing the escutcheon plate to the exterior oil-the door stile. Thepinions 28,30 are inserted through the larger hole l0 and the -h'andle15 and its spindle are mounted inplace in the escutcheon 1'?, thuscompletingthe installation of the assembly.

-Having thus described this invention what I claim and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. A door latch comprising a latch bar, a latch member resilientlyconnected to said latch bar, a pair of slidably mounted drive membersengaging said latch bar, operating handles adapted to actuate each ofsaid drive members, means for moving said drive members laterally todisengage one of the drive members from said latch bar, a detent forretaining said drive member disengaged from said` latch bar, andresilient means urging said disengageable drive member into engagementwith said latch bar.

2. A door latch comprising a casing, a latch'b'ar slidably mounted insaid casing and having rack teeth thereon, a latch member resilientlyconnected to said latch bar, a pair of slidably mounted pinions enmeshedwith said rack, operating handles in operative engagement with saidpinions, means for moving one of said pinions laterally out of mesh withsaid rack by advancing the opposite pinion thereagainst, a detent forretaining the opposite pinion in advanced position, and resilient meansurging the disengageable pinion into mesh with said rack.

3. A door latch comprising a. latch bar, a resiliently retractable latchmember connected to said latch bar, a pair of drive members engagingsaid latch bar, operating handles adapted to actuate each of said drivemembers, means for moving one of said drive members laterally out ofengagement with said latch bar, and a stop fixed to said latch memberand extending into juxtaposition with said drive members and adapted toprevent retraction of the latch member when one of said drive members isdisengaged.

. 4. A door latch comprising a casing; a latch bar slidably mounted insaid casing and having rack teeth thereon; a latch member resilientlyconnected to said latch bar; a pair of operating handles having spindlesmounted on the door and extending into said casing; one of said handleswith its spindle being slidably mounted with respect to said door;pinions mounted on said spindles and enmeshed with said rack; means fordisengagng the pinion mounted on the opposite spindle from said rack bythrusting inward said slidably mounted handle; a detent for retainingsaid handle in adjusted position; and resilient means for urging thedisengageable pinion into mesh with said rack.

5. A latch comprising a latch bar, a pair of drive members engaging saidlatch bar, operating handles in operative engagement with each of saiddrive members, and means for moving both of said drive members laterallyto disengage one of said members from said latch bar.

6. A latch comprising a casing; a latch vbar having rack teeth therein;a pair of pinions engaging said rack teeth; operating handles adapted toactuate said pinions; and means for moving both of said pinionslaterally to disengage one of said pinions from said rack.

7. A latch comprising a casing, a latch bar slidably mounted in saidcasing; a slidable spin dlev extending into said casing; an opposed xedspindle extending into said casing; an operating handle on each of saidspindles; a drive member xed on said slidable spindle and operativelyengaging said latch bar; a second drive member slidable on said iixedspindle and similarly operatively engaging said latch bar; and means forshifting said slidable spindle to move both of said drive memberslaterally to disengage said second member from said latch bar.

JOHN J. EGAN.

